In the afternoon hours of October 17, the Antioch Police Department worked with their police explorers to issue crime prevention “warning citations”.
The proactive detail was to assist local patrons not to be easy victims of property crime in the parking lots of In-Shape Gym, City Sports Gym, Starbucks at Slatten Ranch, and Chili’s on Lone Tree Way by writing crime prevention “warning” citations.
According to Police Chief Tammany Brooks, the Explorers were looking for vehicles with unlocked doors, open windows, and valuables in plain sight. Several vehicles had multiple “violations” that were noted on the citations.
“We are trying to focus on crime prevention and engage our community,” said Chief Brooks. “We are not going to arrest our way out of people committing crimes in Antioch. Arresting people after the fact is not the solution when we can engage the community to get them to do their part to reduce the problem before crime happens.”
Brooks stated the feedback they received was mostly positive and people appreciated the reminder not to be an easy target to criminals.
“At the end of the day, would you rather have a crime prevention officer looking into your vehicles or a criminal?” said Brooks. “There has been a dramatic increase in property crimes and as we enter the holiday season it could increase so we are trying to address it proactively and help make people more mindful and make better choices in order to reduce their likelihood of being victimized.
Chief Brooks added the detail was overwhelmingly supported by residents and people were appreciative.
The Explorers issued a total of 97 crime prevention warning “citations” for the following violations:
15-Open car windows
16-Unlocked car doors
11-Valuables left in plain view (cell phones, tablets, etc.)
63-Some sort of bag (shopping, gym, back pack, or similar) in plain view.
2-keys left in the ignition
1-prescription drugs in plain view
1-purse in plain view
*Note-(the above “violations” total more than the 97 citations issued and represents vehicles with multiple category violations.)
14 comments
I like this idea! Thanks Chief T!
Soooooo…. what’s ultimately being said here is…
‘Dear criminals,
We know you have a rough time controlling your impulses, and we are here to help! While you wait, we will be issuing “citations” to each legal car owner who incurs “violations” such as:
1. Enabling you to commit a crime by leaving their doors unlocked on their legally owned vehicles.
2. Tempting you by leaving their legally owned valuables out in plain sight where you – the poor criminal who can’t or won’t control your illegal impulses – can see them and therefore may be put into a terrible position of having to behave like a responsible citizen and leave other people’s property the hell alone.
We understand that life is hard, but fear not! We’re here to help you, the dishonest criminal, to stay out of jail by condemning those nasty law-abiding citizens who work hard for all they own and buy their goods. THEY WILL BE STOPPED!
Sincerely,
Antioch Police Chief Brooks.’
Makes total sense to me…. ?
P.S.
I don’t give one dead rat’s ass whether these “violations” or their “citations” are real or implied. Whether or not there is a fine or any other punishment is irrelevant.
Victimization of criminals and criminal behavior is WRONG.
Criminalizing victims for the criminal behavior of criminals is WRONG!
What the hell is this world coming to?!?!
I have a son in training for police work and have nothing but respect for police and the law, but this is pure insanity!
Nothing more and nothing less than a “FYI – you are leaving your property susceptible to theft with your openness”. Ms. Bennett this is just a proactive approach to raise awareness by the APD which should be nothing but applauded. Please find another cause to rant about, possibly the trees that had to be sacrificed for these needless citations. Oh snap they were written recycled paper, Dang it! SMH
So far. Later, they’ll start fining the people who leave a door unlocked. Then it’ll progress to residences, etc. Maybe even inside for ‘compliance inspections’… Just wait…
It’s called “education”, Crystal. Chill out. Preventative measures to protect from potential harm.
We don’t live in Antioch, but this is an excellent idea! Vehicle burglary is the one crime that’s easily avoidable. People need to wise up.
Great idea! Hopefully we can reduce “crimes of opportunity”.
It’s common sense not to leave anything in your vehicle, or leave your doors unlocked and windows down, and it’s pathetic that too many people don’t get it. If you don’t care enough not to protect your own things – valuable or not, you’re draining police resources. You’re also driving up insurance rates. Criminals are opportunists, and without an opportunity, there is no crime.
Not all crimes are preventable, but vehicle burglary is very preventable.
People like Crystal are clueless.
Crystal is spot-on. This is a PR stunt done by a police force that can’t handle the current workload. If we can’t catch the criminals let’s criminalize the victims. Message isn’t exactly going over well in other forms of social media. APD should re-evaluate this approach it pisses quite a few people off as it infers deflection of blame.
Seriously bad idea unless the idea was for APD to come off as the smug bureaucracy that it likely is. Believe it or not there are plenty of cities in the bay area where you can actually leave stuff in your car and not get your windows broken. Those areas are called well-policed.
This should definitely be applauded. People who don’t get it are pathetic.
im happy to be pathetic then
I think it is a goid thing but lost in what it us called. Noone wants to hear they have recieved a “violation”. To me that means I have violated some law. Too much negative conintation. Call it a
“looking out for you” or “Heads Up”. We noticed your car was suseptible to a crime and we wanted to alert you that A.P.D. has your back, be safe!
They have to call it a violation, because later, it’ll be accompanied by a fine, and they can’t fine someone for ‘looking out for you’. It’s to protect the person… from himself.
If APD has the time and resources to do this, why not use it to actually go after the criminals.. because that’s what prevents crime. It’s the not so secret concept behind consequences for doing crime.
This is nothing but an annoyance to law abiding citizens. APD has lost focus
I’m with Crystal and Datadriven.
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